Tubing cutters



Dec. 8, 1970 D. J. BUTLER I 3,545,081

TUBING CUTTERS Filed Jan. 29. 1968 INVENTOR. DAWD J- BUTLER UnitedStates Patent 3,545,081 TUBING CUTTERS David J. Butler, Girard, Ohio(214 SE. 47th Terrace, Cape Coral, Fla. 33904) Filed Jan. 29, 1968, Ser.No. 701,159 Int. Cl. B25f 3/00; B08b 1/04 US. Cl. 30--123 7 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE PREAMBLE In most cases, when the end of atube is to be connected to a coupling, T, elbow or other connection, theperipheral surface of such end must first be cleaned, as must the partreceiving the tube end, to insure that a good bond will be made by thejoining medium which may be a weld, solder, braze, cement, or the like.

Heretofore, after the tubing was cut to size, it was necessary to cleanthe outside peripheral surface of the tube end at the cut in a separateoperation, and this required not only additional time but also anadditional tool. Through use of my invention, the pipe is cleaned duringthe cutting operation. My invention further provides an efficient, yetinexpensive attachment for a conventional tube cutter. These and otheradvantages will be apparent from the subsequent detailed description.

In the drawing accompanying this specification and forming a part ofthis application, there are shown, for purposes of illustration, severalembodiments which my invention may assume, and in this drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a tubing cutter of conventionalconstruction and therefore labeled Prior Art,

FIG. 2 is a separated perspective view of parts comprising my invention,

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view corresponding generally to theline 33 of FIG. 1, but with the parts of my invention added, the viewbeing drawn to a larger scale,

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view corresponding generally to theline 4-4 of FIG. 3, and

FIG. 5 is a somewhat schematic representation of another embodiment ofmy invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawing,the conventional tubing cutter comprises a C-shaped frame 10, having ahead portion 11 and a foot portion 12, joined by a center portion 14.The latter portion is formed with laterally extending ribs 15 (only thefront rib is visible in FIG. 1) upon which a slide 16 is supported forrectilinear movement toward and away from the foot portion 12. A stem 17is threaded through the head portion 11 and has a manipulating head 18at one end and a swivel connection 19 with the slide 16.

The slide rotatably supports a pair of rollers 2020 which form a cradlebetween which, and the cutting wheel 21, a piece of tubing T istransversely disposed. The foot portion 12 provides a shroud 22 around aportion only of the wheel, the shroud including a pair of spaced walls23 3,545,081 Patented Dec. 8, 1970 (see also FIG. 3) having alignedopenings through which the shank 24 of a bolt 25 is passed. Inconventional construction, the head 26 of the bolt bears against theoutside surface of one wall 23 while the threaded extremity of the boltshank is threaded into the opposite wall 23, to thereby provide an axlefor the cutting wheel 21.

In the normal method of cutting tubing, a piece of tubing T ispositioned transversely of the rolls 20-20 and the head manually rotatedto move the slide 15 in a direction toward the cutting wheel 21. Whenthe rolls start to force the tubing against the cutting wheel, theentire tool is rotated about the tubing, with the head and stem turnedin appropriately to cause the wheel to cut into the tube, and finallysever it.

My invention adds a few simple parts to the standard tube cutter toprovide the decided advantage of the tube cleaning simultaneously withtube cutting. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a support plate 30 ispreferably provided with a vertical curvature, and is formed with acentral opening consisting of a vertical slot 31 and an intersectinghorizontal slot 32. The vertical slot provides passage for the cuttingwheel 21.

At the present time, the horizontal slot is formed by lancing along theparallel lines 3333 and bending back the enclosed plate portions to formattaching tabs 34. The tabs have aligned openings 36 and the only changerequired from standard construction is to provide a bolt long enough sothat its threaded end will engage the threaded opening 36 (the righthand opening in FIG. 3) to hold the support plate firmly assembled withthe cutting tool.

I make use of an abrasive material to clean the tube as it is being cutand as presently preferred, I utilize a backing plate 37 which may havesubstantially the same size and curvature as the support plate, but ismade from a lighter gauge metal to provide a certain amount offlexibility. The lower end of the backing plate has a troughshaped edge38 which fits closely around lip 39 on the support plate 30, as bestseen in FIG. 4. The back-up plate may be assembled with the supportplate by longitudinally lining up the trough-shaped edge 38 as shown bythe dotdash line 39.1 and correlating the curvatures of the plates, andthen sliding the back-up plate edgewise to position closely overlyingthe support plate. It will be appreciated that this assembly is madebefore the support plate is connected to the frame, so that the wheel 21will not interferc. However, since the fit between the lip 39 and thetrough-shaped edge 38 need not be made too confining, the back-up platemay be positioned to overlie the support plate 30 and the edge 38 may behooked over the lip 39 while the upper part of plate 37 is tilted awayfrom the plate 30. The plate 37 may then be swung toward the plate 30(about the pivot provided by the interfitting edge 38 and lip 39') untilit abuts the latter. Thereafter, the ears 4343 may be bent over theplate 30 to secure the assembly. In this assembly of parts, the supportplate may be connected to the frame with the cutting wheel projectingthrough its center slot.

To further facilitate assembly, the back-up plate 37 may be formed witha pair of ears 37.1 and 37.2, as seen in FIG. 2. Preferably, the ear37.1 is bent rearwardly at the time the back-up plate is fabricated, andprovides a gauge with the left hand margin (FIG. 2) of the support plateto align the parts. After the plates are properly assembled, the ear37.2 may be bent over the right hand margin (FIG. 2) of the supportplate 30 to hold the back-up plate against endwise movement.

The support plate is then assembled with the foot portion 12 of theframe in the manner heretofore described. The back-up plate has avertical slot 40 to pass the cutting wheel. The abrasive materialdisclosed herein is pad-like in form and made of a backing which carriesabrasive fibers, and is along the same lines as used by housewives inscouring pots and pans. The abrasive pad 41 is considerably thicker thanthe support plate 30 and, as seen in FIG. 4, is preferably thick enoughto extend at least to the cutting edge of the cutting wheel 21. Theabrasive pad is cemented to the back-up plate 37 and generally followsthe curvature of the latter. The abrasive pad may be formed with avertical slit 42 or this slit may be cut during the first operation whenthe cutting wheel is forced therethrough. The top of the back-up plate37 is formed with a pair of legs 43-43 which are bent around the top lipof the support plate.

The tool is used in the same manner as hereinbefore described. As thetube T approaches the cutting wheel 21, its peripheral surface engagesthe abrasive pad. A-s cutting action proceeds, the abrasive pad iscompressed by the tube and thus is capable of vigorously scouring thetube exterior.

My improved tool may also be used to clean the end of an uncut piece oftubing. In such case, the tube is inserted endwise between the rollers20 and the abrasive pad and held just short of engagement with thecutting wheel. The tool is then rotated about the tube to clean thesame, the slide being moved toward the pad sufficiently to insure propercleaning.

The embodiment disclosed in FIG. shows my invention adapted to a powercutter. The frame 14a supports a rotatable cutting wheel 21a at one end,and a slide 16a at its other end. A motor 49 is mounted on the slide andits output pulley 50 has a belt trained over it and the cradle rollers20a. Any suitable means may be employed to maintain the belt taut, yetlet it conform to the curvature of the tube Ta. The abrasive pad 41a iscarried by back-up means and is disposed for engagement with the tube.The slide may be moved toward and away from the pad 41a by a screw, asheretofore, or in any other suitable manner, and the rollers 20a and/orbelt will rotate the tube to effect cleaning and cutting thereof. Itwill be appreciated that the slide 16a may be made stationary and amovable slide provided to support the cutting wheel and abrasive pad.

In view of the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat I have accomplished at least the principal object of my inventionand it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that theembodiments herein described may be variously changed and modified,without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that theinvention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specificallydescribed; hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosedembodiments are illustrative only, and that my invention is not limitedthereto.

I claim:

1. In a tubing cutter, a frame, a cutting wheel carried by said frame, aslide on said frame for sliding movement toward and away from saidcutting wheel, a pair of rolls rotatably carried by said slide inopposed relation to said cutting wheel to cradle a piece of tubingdisposed transversely between said cutting wheel and said rolls, wherebymovement of said slide toward said cutting wheel and relative rotationof said tubing and cutting Wheel effects a transverse circular cut insaid tubing, a supporting plate rigidly carried by said frame and havinga slot through which said cutting wheel projects, the latter extendingfrom a face of said supporting plate in a direction toward said slide,abrasive material in the form of a fibrous pad secured to the face of abacking plate, the opposite face of said backing plate overlying andabutting said supporting plate and the plates having removableconnection, said backing plate having a slot to pass said cutting wheeland the latter being projectable through said abrasive material therebyto dispose said abrasive material on opposite sides of said cuttingwheel for engaging and cleaning the peripheral surface of said tubing assaid slide is moved toward said cutting wheel and the latter and saidtubing are relatively rotated,

2. A cleaning attachment for a tubing cutter comprising:

(a) a support plate having means for attachment to a tubing cutteradjacent a cutting wheel thereof,

(b) an abrasive pad mounted on said support plate,

(c) a slot in said abrasive pad through which the cutting wheel projectsand (d) said slot being bounded by said abrasive pad on all sideswhereby said pad cleans the peripheral surface of a workpiece as thecutting wheel severs the same.

3. The attachment of claim 2 wherein said support plate attachment meanscomprises a pair of apertured ears for reception upon the axle of atubing cutter wheel.

4. The cleaning attachment of claim 2 wherein (a) said abrasive padincludes a backing plate therefor having a slot aligned with said padslot, and

said backing plate having means for detachably securing the same to saidsupport plate.

5. The cleaning attachment of claim 4 wherein said detachable securingmeans comprise bendable tabs on said backing plate.

6. The cleaning attachment of claim 2 wherein (a) said abrasive padcomprises abrasive fibers, and

(b) said support plate and said abrasive pad thereon have a concavecurvature complementary to the curved peripheral surface of a tubingworkpiece.

7. The cleaning attachment of. claim 6 wherein said abrasive pad is ofcompressible material, whereby compression of the pad against theworkpiece simultaneously cleans the peripheral surface thereof andexposes the cutting wheel through said pad slot.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 294,339 2/1884 Sweetland 30102426,171 4/1890 Comstock 30102 2,563,843 8/1951 OHagan 30l02 3,290,71112/1966 Swanson 15104.03 3,355,749 12/1967 Steffen 30l23 THERON E.CONDON, Primary Examiner J. C. PETERS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.301()2; 15-10403

